Philadelphia Flyers Renew Affiliation with Reading Royals

READING, PA – The Reading Royals and Philadelphia Flyers jointly announced the two organizations have extended their working arrangement with a multi-year affiliation agreement.

Under the affiliation extension, which was originally signed in June of 2014, the Royals will receive players designated for assignment within the professional hockey operations development system of the Flyers.

“We’re very excited to extend our affiliation relationship with the Flyers,” said Royals President Drew Bell. “We believe that the philosophy, culture and goals of the Royals and Flyers are consistent with one another—an unwavering dedication to excellence in all phases of our operations and ultimately, of course, winning hockey games. There is no question that the relationship with the Flyers has paid positive dividends for the Royals over the past two seasons, and we anticipate that our position within the Flyers’ player development pipeline is only going to get stronger over the next several seasons. We look forward to this opportunity to expand our role in the effort to develop young prospects and grow the interest in and support for professional hockey in Southeast Pennsylvania.”

“We are pleased to extend and continue our relationship with the Royals,” said Flyers’ General Manager Ron Hextall. “Reading has created a long-term culture of success and has provided our prospects a positive environment that is important in the development of their careers. The geographic proximity of our minor league affiliations in Lehigh Valley and Reading gives our coaches and scouting department the best possible platform to evaluate and promote the advancement of our prospects within the Flyers system.”

“I’m looking forward to continuing our working relationship with the Flyers,” said Royals’ Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Larry Courville. “There is no question that our team’s success is directly tied with that of our affiliate, and we believe that we have built a positive working arrangement with the Flyers over the last couple of years. We’re dedicated to continuing our effort to help young prospects pursue their goal of advancing to the highest level of the game, while engaging those same young players in our team’s goal to win another ECHL championship.”

The Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers American Hockey League affiliate, are slated to play their third season in Allentown, Pennsylvania, this fall. As has been the case over the past two seasons, it is expected that the Royals will work closely with the Phantoms with respect to player movement within the Flyers’ minor professional development system.

In 2015-16, no fewer that fourteen players, including two goaltenders, played for the Royals under either an NHL or AHL contract with the Flyers. Two players who were under ECHL contract with Reading last season, Joe Rehkamp and Kevin Sundher, were also called up to the Phantoms, and Sundher ultimately signed an AHL deal with the Flyers.